Practically a Princess
by Pink Mockingjay in Hufflepuff
Summary: Ben's at a meeting so Mal spends part of her afternoon in the park with an unlikely friend. Ben realizes just how princess-like this makes her, she disagrees.


_**I told you I'd be back soon! Enjoy!**_

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Mal was sitting on a bench in the park, her sketchbook on resting on her lap as she drew the tree in front of her. Ben had left her there for an hour or two while he attended some sort of meeting. It was summer break, so he wasn't missing any school, but he was missing a Tourney practice. Besides the meeting, his day was free, so the remainder of it was to be spent with Mal.

Typically, Mal would be with another one of her friends, but Evie was helping out at a science summer camp at the library (she loved it and the kids loved her) and Carlos and Jay were at practice. She didn't feel much like hanging out with anyone else, so she was fine with the park.

It was a summer day, but it wasn't extremely hot. It was overcast, but not unpleasantly so, especially not to Mal. Despite the clouds, the park was bursting with activity of both human and animal nature. It was a good day.

Mal felt something hit her foot while she was shading the trunk of the tree. She looked from her sketchbook to the object only to find that it was a pastel pink piece of chalk. She picked it up and examined it before looking for anyone it could've belonged to. Up the small incline a little girl of six or so was sitting on the sidewalk with a bucket of chalk beside her, drawing pictures. From what Mal could see, it looked like she was using an awful lot of pink. She'd need the piece of chalk back. It took less than a second to decide to return it. She had no use for it anyway.

Mal closed her sketchbook and tucked it under her arm as she stood before walking towards the little girl, chalk in hand.

"Excuse me," Mal said as she approached.

The girl turned her head and several adults looked up. The adults looked frightened, some gasped or looked nervous, contemplating whether or not to step in. They knew her, the daughter of Maleficent, the Isle girl who somehow won Ben's heart. She was good now, but they were all still weary that she might turn on them.

"I think this is yours," Mal said, holding out the chalk.

The girl nodded and took the chalk from her. "Thank you,"

"You're welcome," Mal commented, looking at the absurd amount of pastel pink before her. Despite it's obnoxiousness, it was good for a kid. She wasn't used to kids, but she'd give it a shot. "I like your picture."

"Thank you." the girl responded with a bright smile. "My name's Katie, what's yours?"

Mal was surprised at the girl's friendliness. The nearby grownups were still watching with a curious sort of fear, but the child didn't even seem to notice anything out of the ordinary.

"My name is Mal."

"Do you wanna draw with me?"

Mal had nothing better to do other than to either return to her mediocre tree drawing or people watch, but she had learned at an earlier time that she made people very nervous when she did that. There was no harm in coloring with the little girl, she figured, so she agreed.

Katie scooted over a bit to make room for Mal and pushed the bucket of chalk towards her when she sat.

"What are you gonna draw?"

Mal studied the blank pavement in front of her. "I don't know, Katie. I've never drawn with chalk before." Writing on the board at school didn't count. Her previous mediums had been limited to pencils and paper and spray paint and walls. She hadn't taken an art class yet at school, but had registered for one in the upcoming year (Evie wouldn't let her not, she was fond of telling her not to waste her talent). She felt incredibly lacking in the art department, all things considered.

"You never drew with chalk before?" Katie was wide-eyed.

"Nope," Mal shook her head. "Never. I draw a lot though. See?" Mal flipped a few pages in her sketchbook so Katie could see.

Katie smiled. "You're good at drawing."

"Thanks," Mal closed her book. "What do you think I should draw?"

"Hm," Katie looked deep in thought before she looked back to Mal. "You should draw a butterfly."

A butterfly. How predictable. Of course Katie was a little girl, perhaps even a little princess, so it was no surprise that she liked that kind of thing. However, it would be rude to ask for a suggestion and then not take it. Especially from a kid.

"Okay, a butterfly it is!" Mal picked up a blue piece of chalk and started to draw.

Mal must have spent a good half hour with Katie drawing that butterfly and they talked about anything and everything a little girl would talk about.

Mal learned Katie's full name was Kaitlyn, she was five and going into kindergarten, her favorite color was pink, and that she had two older brothers. Katie learned that Mal was seventeen, one of her best friends made clothes, yes she had a boyfriend, and that she went to Auradon Prep.

Katie got excited when Mal mentioned Auradon Prep. "I wanna go there when I get big. It's pretty."

"It is a pretty nice place," Mal had agreed with a smile.

The adults around had grown significantly less nervous about Mal being with Katie. They weren't staring or muttering, just casting cautious glances every now and then. Mal was okay with that.

Finally, Mal finished her butterfly. It was dark blue, dark purple, and a magenta tone. She was pretty proud of it.

Unfortunately, her hands were coated in chalk dust. Katie's, well, everything, was covered in chalk dust.

"That's so pretty!" Katie gushed when Mal finished.

"Thank you, Katie. I like your castle."

Katie giggled. "Do you want to come play on the swings with me?"

"I...sure, I'll come play on the swings." Mal replied. She was having a nice time with Katie and Ben hadn't come for her yet, so why not? She looked at her hands and considered wiping them on her pants (Evie would kill her if she did) before Katie said her mother had wipes or something. Mal didn't have time to argue before Katie was throwing the last few chalk pieces into the bucket and tugging on Mal's hand.

Katie led Mal to her mother and introduced her as her new friend. Katie's mother had the decency to look shocked for only a split second before saying hello. Mal swore she was a princess, though she couldn't remember which. Sure enough, there were wipes and then Katie was pulling Mal off towards the swings (Mal took a quick detour to take a picture of her butterfly on her phone to show Evie later).

"Can you push me one time so I can start?" Katie asked sweetly as she hopped onto the swing.

"Sure," Mal set her sketchbook down by the leg of the swing set. She had seen people push kids on the swings before, so she copied them exactly. She grabbed the chains of the swing from behind Katie and pulled her up a little before letting go.

Mal sat on the swing beside hers and pushed herself back with her feet.

"I bet I can swing higher than you!" Katie called, clearly straining to swing higher.

"I bet you can't," Mal replied, swinging higher as well. She laughed a little. She could out-swing the kid any day, she was taller and stronger, but she was going to let her swing the highest.

Katie was a cute little girl, bouncy curls and a missing tooth and freckles with the kind of enthusiasm and joyful spirit that would have lead to her getting smushed like a bug on the island.

There was a certain spark in Auradon children that Mal noticed the kids back home didn't have. They had innocence in their laughter and hope and love sparkling in their eyes.

She wouldn't mind being around kids more often. Katie seemed to like her, maybe others would too. Perhaps she could tag along with Evie to the summer camp sometime.

"Oh, there you are Mal. I've been looking everywhere for you."

Mal slowed her swing and smiled at Ben. "Hey," she greeted. "Sorry, I've been playing with Katie."

Katie had stopped too. She dipped right into a little curtsy, looking timid. Sometimes Mal forgot Ben was king and everyone knew who he was.

Ben knelt in front of Katie. He spoke kindly to her. "Thank you for keeping an eye on Mal for me, Katie. She's kind of new around here. I was worried she'd get lonely."

Katie smiled shyly. "You're welcome,"

"Ready to go, Mal?" Ben asked, standing up.

"Sure," Mal replied. She turned to Katie. "I had a lot of fun with you, Katie. I hope I see you again soon."

Katie, without warning, hugged Mal tightly. "Thank you for playing with me."

Mal was slightly taken aback, but she returned the hug. "You're very welcome."

"Can I ask you something?" Katie asked, making it clear it was to be a whispered question.

"Of course," Mal said, crouching down.

"Is he your boyfriend?" Katie asked not-so-quietly as she glanced at Ben.

Mal chuckled. "Yeah, he is." Behind her, Ben smiled.

The five year old looked beyond impressed. "Wow..."

Mal was still smiling as she got up and said goodbye to Katie. Ben picked up Mal's sketchbook. Katie waved to the both of them before she ran back to her mother.

Ben intertwined his fingers with Mal's as they walked out of the park. Kind smiles and nods and such followed them as they passed people. His meeting was boring and exhausting, Mal seemed to have a much more exciting day. "Did you really spend the whole time playing with that little girl?"

"Pretty much,"

"Why?"

"She was drawing alone and so was I. A piece of her chalk rolled by me and she looked like she needed a friend, so I stayed with her."

"That's was nice of you. She seemed to appreciate it."

"She's... actually pretty cute." Mal admitted. "I wouldn't mind playing with a bunch of kids like her."

"You know what, Mal?"

"Hm?" she looked up at him.

"You're really starting to sound like a princess."

Mal snorted and looked at him funny. "Yeah, right Ben. Me, a princess? You're funny."

Ben just smiled and squeezed her hand. Apparently she didn't know she was practically one already.

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 _ **A/N: Honestly, Mal is the cutest. She's got so much attitude but she's also adorable. Ben knows this, but she doesn't.**_

 _ **She's pretty much a princess at this point because of Ben,**_ _ **in case that wasn't clear. Because of his title, that kind of indirectly makes her a princess because should hey ever get married, Mal would be queen.**_

 ** _I hope you liked this story! Let me know what you thought!_**

 ** _See you around!_**

 ** _(Ps. check out princess-of-the-lost on Tumblr. That's me!)_**


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